The president-elect of the United States, Donald Trump, met this Saturday with Prince William of the United Kingdom on the sidelines of the reopening of the Notre Dame cathedral in Paris, greeting the heir to the British throne as a “good man” who was doing a “fantastic job.”
He eldest son of King Charles III attended the reopening of the cathedral, restored after a fire in 2019, representing the United Kingdom.
The Prince of Wales was among some 40 heads of State and Government in the French capital for Saturday’s ceremony.
The last time William met Trump was in 2019, when the then US president was on a state visit to the UK.
“A good man, this one!” Trump told reporters, gesturing to William as they met in Paris at the residence of the UK ambassador to France after the ceremony. “He’s doing a fantastic job”he added as William laughed.
The prince’s last official trip to Paris was in 2017, when he visited with his wife, Princess Kate, on a two-day trip following the Brexit result.
This time he was not accompanied by Kate, who has been slowly returning to her public duties after being diagnosed with cancer at the beginning of the year.
King Charles III is currently undergoing cancer treatment. William joined his father and other heads of state in Normandy for D-Day commemorations earlier this year, which were also attended by Jill Biden, wife of US President Joe Biden.
On the other hand, the French president Emmanuel Macron also organized this Saturday a trilateral meeting with Trump and the Ukrainian president, Volodimir Zelenskyat the Elysée Palace. The conversation centered on the ongoing war in Russia, in which both France and the United States are great allies of kyiv.
Zelensky considered this summit in Paris “very good and productive.” “President Trump has been, as always, decisive. I thank you”he wrote on his X social network account, where he also thanked Macron for preparing “this important meeting.”
For Macron, this Saturday has been “a historic day” By achieving this three-voice meeting and, on his X account, he launched this message: “Let us continue the common action for peace and security.” The challenge for him, as for other European leaders, is that the United States does not abandon Ukraine because that would mean that the support to endure would depend solely on them.
Trump was accompanied in Paris by a small contingent of advisers that included incoming White House chief of staff Susie Wiles, along with Steve Witkoff, a friend and real estate investor whom Trump has named as his special envoy for the Middle East, and Massad Boulos, who is the father-in-law of a Trump daughter and will serve as an adviser on Arab and Middle East affairs. The group did not appear to include anyone with experience in Ukraine.
In an attempt to build trust with the new American government, Zelensky’s top adviser Andriy Yermak met with key members of Trump’s team on a two-day trip to the United States earlier this week.
(With information from AFP, AP and EFE)
